


Of Dreams And Scars

by afteriwake



Series: Lingering Winter [10]
Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-16
Updated: 2012-10-16
Packaged: 2017-11-16 11:17:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The nightmares still haunt her, and remind her of what she almost lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Dreams And Scars

She had had one peaceful night, her first night with Hisagi. But now, troubled dreams affected her again, and not even the comforting feel of her one of her closest friends sleeping next to her could keep them away forever. She should have known that. She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling before shutting them again. This was not the first time it had happened, and she doubted it would be the last. In her mind, thoughts replayed themselves in slow motion.

_Kira had managed to heal her enough so that she could sit up. She ignored the fight between Isshin and Aizen, instead focusing on the one between Hitsugaya and Gin. She could feel their individual reiatsu, sensing them fighting in a heated battle. And it seemed as though Gin was winning._

_With that, she realized she needed Hitsugaya to win. **Needed** him to win, because if he didn’t Gin would return to her life in some way, this she knew. And through the time he’d been gone, she realized she had let go of their past attachment. If he lived, he would ruin her life, because if he won then Aizen would win and the world would be doomed, and she **knew** he’d spare her and kill everyone else._

_She glanced at Kira, and then at Hisagi, and then at everyone else on the rooftop. She struggled to her feet, finding her sword and gripping it tightly. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Hisagi standing next to her. “You’re still injured.”_

_“I can’t let Gin win!” she cried out. “I have to help Toshiro!” She took a step forward and faltered, and Hisagi caught her. The way they ended up, she held onto him with her face buried in his shoulder, and she pulled away as quickly as she could, only to stumble again, this time facing the fight. He caught her again, landing on the roof with a thump, pulling her on top of him._

_“Rangiku, I can’t let you join their fight,” he said quietly. He moved a bit, then got her off of him and on the ground next to him before he stood up. “You’ll get killed.” He pulled his sword from its sheath and moved forward a step before turning to look at her. “I’ll fight for you.” And with that, he took off towards Hitsugaya and Gin, leaving her on the rooftop, reaching towards them all._

“You can’t sleep.”

She opened her eyes again and turned her head, seeing Hisagi looking at her. She nodded slowly, then turned on her side to face him. “I’m not escaping my dreams,” she said with a sad smile, touching his face.

He shut his eyes and turned his face slightly so her hand cupped the side of his face. “I’m finding it easier now, though.”

“I am too, but the dreams still come to me,“ she said with a sigh. “I just can’t escape them, no matter how much I want to.”

“What do you dream about?”

“The fight between you and Gin and Toshiro,” she said. “I wake up before Gin slashes your face most nights.” She moved her hand to trace the new scar on his face, one that ran from his ear to his chin across his cheek. He flinched slightly, and she dropped her hand. She had never touched it before, as it was something she’d never had the urge to, and now she wished she hadn’t. He didn’t need to be reminded of the fight. He lived with the reminder every day. “I’m sorry.”

He was quiet for a moment before reaching for her hand and picking it up, holding it tightly. “Don’t be,” he said, a slight smile on his lips that she could see clearly in the swath of moonlight that showed on his face. He brought her hand up to his face again, and this time she ran her finger down the scar very softly, very slowly as he gently held on to her wrist. It was a part of him, as much a part of him as the scars he got in his Academy days and the tattoo on his cheek and the other scar Gin gave him, the one that ran down his back near his spine. It was a part of him that she…loved.

It hit her in that moment that she had fallen in love with him. And maybe she had for a long time, now that she had realized that was the depth of her feelings. She had felt such a sense of despair when he joined that fight. At first she had thought that she was fearing she’d lose both him and Hitsugaya, but she knew now that she was afraid she’d lose him. Her relationship with Hitsugaya was deep, but there was still a difference between them, that while she cared for him it was almost as a big sister to a little brother. She had no brotherly feelings for Hisagi; friendly feelings, yes, but they ran deeper than that, and now she knew how deep.

She looked at him and then moved closer, kissing him softly. He let her wrist go and moved his hand to curl itself in her hair, keeping her close. She pulled away for a moment, and before she even thought about what she wanted to say her mouth opened and the words “I love you, Shūhei” tumbled out before she could stop them. She froze slightly until she felt him rest his forehead against hers.

“I love you too, Rangiku,” he said softly before pulling her in for another kiss, one where she could feel his smile beneath her lips, and she knew that at least for tonight, the dream would stay away and, hopefully, be replaced with a new one.


End file.
